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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Dudhi Alchikeri -Pumpkin curry

Dudhiya Alchikeri is pumpkin in a coconut,dal based curry.Dont get confused by the name,this is a very simple dish to make.In Ernakulam,during aarat(temple festival which is celebrated once in a year) alchikeri is a common item on the platter or rather plaintain leaf on which the jevan/prasadam/annadanam is served.In fact,whenever I tell my hubby that I want to go to Ekm for aarat he teases me saying that I go there for the feast rather than to pray.I don't correct him coz it is partially true!!!During the sambradan jevan/annadanam I wait eagerly to see whether alchikeri is served(festival and feast is there for 8 days,alchikeri will be there at least on 2 days).I gorge on it as though I've never seen food before;-)I do not even hesitate to ask for more..yeah!!hehe.Dudhiya Alchikeri

Cook toor dal in a pressure cooker for about 3-4 whistles(it shouldn't be fully cooked)
When it cools down open the lid and add pumpkin pieces and cook for another 3-4 whistles.
By this time toor dal and pumpkin would be fully cooked.
Make a masala of grated coconut(keep 1 tbsp aside for seasoning),haldi and red chillies.
It should be ground coarsely by adding very little water.
Add this to the cooked dal-pumpkin mix and let it boil,add salt to taste.
Prepare seasoning in a pan by adding oil,mustard seeds,jeera,curry leaves and coconut.
When the coconut starts getting brown,switch off the flame and add to the curry.

P.S-The curry tastes slightly sweet if ripe pumpkins are used.I used not so ripe pumpkins,so I added a small piece of jaggery for the sweet taste.

mm, even I love dudiye elchikery, same as you even i go to aratu to eat, hahha, can't blame them for telling that......sambradan is so tasty that we can't stop eating.......i think we miss out so much as we stay far away

We just got a gigantic pumpkin in our backyard, it must have grown from some careless seed thrown away because we didn't even know we had a pumpkin plant. So i'm hunting for pumpkin recipes to make use of it, looks like this one will be given a try ;-) Thanks for sharing!